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Author: J. Terry White

Fifty-five years ago this month, the first Jupiter-C launch vehicle flew a suborbital mission in which it attained a maximum velocity of 16,000 mph. The successful flight test was a significant step in the development of what would ultimately result in the United States’ first satellite launcher. The Jupiter-C was a derivative of the Army’s […]…

Sixty-three years ago this week, the USAF/Convair XF-92A Dart made its first official flight from Muroc Army Airfield in California. Convair test pilot Ellis D. “Sam” Shannon was at the controls of the experimental delta-winged aircraft. The XF-92A Dart holds the distinction of being the first delta-winged, turbojet-powered aircraft in the United States. It was […]…

Sixty-years ago this month, a live biological payload consisting of a primate and a colony of mice was lofted to an altitude of 236,000 feet by a two-stage Aerobee X-8 sounding rocket. The mission marked the first recorded instance where a mamallian payload survived the rigors of high altitude rocket flight. The post-World War II […]…

Fifty-two years ago this week, the United States Air Force successfully conducted an Initial Operational Capability Demonstration (IOC DEMO) of the Atlas D Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The Atlas Missile System was pronounced operational following the successful launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Named for the superhuman strongman of Greek mythology, Atlas was the United States’ […]…

Fifty-five years ago this week, the USAF/Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker took to the skies for the first time. The jet-powered aircraft would go on to become the most famous military tanker in the history of aviation. The KC-135A Stratotanker was a derivative of the famous Boeing Model 367-80. The type was the only jet-powered aircraft designed […]…

Fifty-seven years ago this month, USAF Major Arthur W. “Kit” Murray set a new world altitude record of 90,440 feet in the rocket-powered Bell X-1A. In doing so, Murray reported that he could detect the curvature of the Earth from the apex of his trajectory. The USAF/Bell X-1A was designed to explore flight beyond Mach […]…

Fifty-four years ago this week, USAF Major David G. Simons, MD successfully completed the Manhigh II high-altitude balloon mission. Simons’ epic flight lasted 32 hours and established an altitude record of 101,516 feet. Project Manhigh was a United States Air Force biomedical research program that investigated the human factors of spaceflight by taking men into […]…

Fifty-one years ago this month, an United States Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft successfully performed the first mid-air retrieval of a reentry body as it was returning from space. The recovered vehicle was named Discoverer XIV. Corona was a covert reconnaissance program operated by the United States government from June of 1959 to May […]…

Fifty-seven years ago this week, the USN/Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart became the first and only seaplane ever to exceed the speed of sound. Convair test pilot Charles E. Richbourg was at the controls of the experimental sea-based fighter. In 1948, the United States was looking to develop a sea-based supersonic fighter as a means projecting […]…

Sixty-one years ago this month, the United States Army’s Bumper-WAC No. 7 two-stage rocket reached a maximum speed of 8,213 ft/sec (Mach 9). This concluding flight of the Bumper Program was flown from the Long-Range Proving Ground (LRPG) in Florida. The Bumper Program was a United States Army effort to reach flight altitudes and velocities […]…

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